Wednesday, January 2, 2013

The hardest part about being an influencer, and reviewing books, is choosing the top books of a given year. I posted my top faves, yet out of 200 books I read last year I have more that I have to mention. Here they are in no particular order.

Lily Young longs to
find her lost sister or will die trying. Heedless of any danger, she
searches logging camps and towns, posing as a photographer's assistant.
And then she arrives in Harrison, Michigan--and the sights of Connell
McCormick. Connell is determined
to increase the fortune of his lumber-baron father and figures as long
as he's living an upright life, that's what matters. But when Lily
arrives in town she upends his world, forcing him to confront the truth
that dangerous men have gained too much power while good men turn a
blind eye.http://frommipov.blogspot.com/2012/09/unending-devotion-reviewed.html

Since she was a child,
Meg has dreamed of taking a promised trip to Florence, Italy, and being
able to finally step into the place captured in a picture at her
grandmother’s house. But after her grandmother passes away and it falls
to her less-than-reliable father to take her instead, Meg’s
long-anticipated travel plans seem permanently on hold.

When her
dad finally tells Meg to book the trip, she prays that the experience
will heal the fissures left on her life by her parents’ divorce. But
when Meg arrives in Florence, her father is nowhere to be found, leaving
aspiring memoir-writer Sophia Borelli to introduce Meg to the rich
beauty of the ancient city. Sofia claims to be one of the last surviving
members of the Medici family and that a long-ago Medici princess, Nora
Orsini, communicates with her from within the great masterpieces of the
Italian Renaissance.http://frommipov.blogspot.com/2012/11/the-girl-in-glass-reviewed.html

As part of a World War
II morale-building program, flight nurse Lt. Mellie Blake begins an
anonymous correspondence with Lt. Tom MacGilliver in North Africa. As
their letters crisscross the Atlantic, they develop a deep friendship.
But when they're both transferred to Algeria, will their future be held
hostage by the past---or will they reveal their identities?http://frommipov.blogspot.com/2012/09/with-every-letter-facebook-party-927.html

To everyone who knows
her, Annalise Decker is a model wife and mother. She's a permanent
member of the PTA, never misses her kids' sporting events, and is
constantly campaigning for her husband's mayoral race.No one knows that
Annalise was once Deidre O'Reilly, a troubled young woman whose
testimony put a dangerous criminal behind bars. Relocated through the
Witness Security Program to the sleepy town of Deep Haven, Deidre got a
new identity and a fresh start, which began when she fell in love with
local real estate agent Nathan Decker. Twenty years later, Annalise
couldn't be more unprepared for her past to catch up with her. When
Agent Frank Harrison arrives with news that the man she testified
against is out on bail and out for revenge, Annalise is forced to face
the consequences of her secrets.http://frommipov.blogspot.com/2012/10/susan-may-warrens-you-dont-know-me.html

"Every now and then we
get a break from reality. A glimpse into the other world that is more
real than the reality we live in 99 percent of our days. The Bible is
about a world of demons and angels and great evil and even greater
glory."What if you could travel inside another person's soul? To
battle for them. To be part of Jesus healing their deepest wounds. To
help set them free to step boldly into their divinely designed future.Thirty years ago that's exactly what Reece Roth did. Until tragedy shattered his life and ripped away his future.Now
God has drawn Reece out of the shadows to fulfill a prophecy spoken
over him three decades ago. A prophecy about four warriors with the
potential to change the world . . . if Reece will face his deepest
regret and teach them what he has learned.They gather at a
secluded and mysterious ranch deep in the mountains of Colorado, where
they will learn to see the spiritual world around them with stunning
clarity--and how to step into the supernatural.Their training is
only the beginning. The four have a destiny to pursue a freedom even
Reece doesn't fully fathom. But they have an enemy hell-bent on
destroying them and he'll stop at nothing to keep them from their quest
for true freedom and the coming battle of souls.http://frommipov.blogspot.com/2012/10/souls-gate-reviewed-win-ipad-mini-from.html

The women of Sweethaven are enjoying an Indian summer when their old
friend -- the missing member of their scrapbook circle -- arrives back
home. Meghan Rhodes has moved on with her life, leaving Sweethaven and
its painful memories in the past. But when her ex files for custody of
their twins, she takes the first flight back to the beach town full of
haunting memories. Meghan wants to make things right with her
ex-husband, her children, and the friends she'd convinced herself she no
longer needed. But is she too late? Meghan works with friends Jane,
Lila, Adele, and Campbell to begin a new scrapbook for memories yet to
be made. Picking up where A Sweethaven Summer left off, A Sweethaven Homecoming explores the strong bonds of friendship, the power of forgiveness, and the importance of unconditional love.

In the tradition of The
Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, four friends navigate college and the
drama churned up by their Florida beach band to cement friendship and
more.

Avra wants love, but drummer Cisco—self-medicating from his
parents’ divorce with sex and intoxicants—is a poor choice. Cisco
hungers for fresh-baked cookies and the scent of family he finds at
Avra’s.

Kallie shares her classically trained singing voice only
with lead vocalist Jesse and fights to keep her heart safe. Jesse feeds
on fame and hides more than insecurity beneath his guitar.

The
friends surf ego, betrayal, and ambition and head for wipe-out. But
somehow, when they’re not looking, Avra’s God changes them all.